


Playing a Music Instrument is Actually Just One Really Difficult Rhythm Game

by hikarinanao



Category: Gintama
Genre: Alternate Universe - Classical Music, Alternate Universe - College/University, Classical References, M/M, don't worry you don't have to be a classical whiz to get it, pianist!gintoki, violinist!hijikata
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-21 23:28:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13154283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hikarinanao/pseuds/hikarinanao
Summary: Ten years ago, Sakata Gintoki was a child prodigy pianist whose mature and heavily emotional performances were always the talk of the town. Following the death of his teacher, however, the boy completely vanished off the classical music scene, leaving his enthusiasts dry and hanging.Present day: violin major Hijikata Toshiro meets the white-haired boy he has been listening to and admired for years, and reality isn't as sweet as he imagined it to be.





	Playing a Music Instrument is Actually Just One Really Difficult Rhythm Game

**Author's Note:**

> Decided to publish my old unfinished fics instead of letting them rot in my drive. This one was written sometime around 2015. Publishing it in its glorious unedited high school writing glory.
> 
> I'm not actively writing Gintama fics anymore, but if this gets good reception, I might come back to it someday.  
> \---  
> This was written to satisfy my classical music obsession lol...
> 
> Pieces used in this chapter:
> 
> \- Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major (Sonata Facile), K. 545. [Performed by Tobias Sing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0rOe6KfmTo)  
> \- Chopin: Minute Waltz, Op. 64, No. 1. [Performed by Tzvi Erez](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KESTJm1g_N0)  
> \- [Ravel: Bolero](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r30D3SW4OVw)  
> \- [Elgar: Violin Sonata in E minor, Op. 82](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0rOe6KfmTo)
> 
> Ones that link to specific performers means that video is the closest interpretation I've found that resembles how I imagined the pieces being played in the fic. For ones that don't, I just picked a random video to help you guys visualize the scene.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Sonata K. 545, Sonata facile.

The sonata has a lively start, opening itself with its signature theme. Playful and jumping from place to place, the theme would remind many of a baby's laugh, especially with its soaring arpeggios. It then moves to a minor key and repeats the theme in said key, adding a touch of despair to the joyful tune.

In this particular interpretation, this part is heavily painted with emotions. Every touch is delicate and fragile, as if the performer is on the verge of breaking. When the key returns back to a major key, it gives a sense of calm after a storm.

Someone who listens to the track for the first time might never guess that the performer is eleven year old Sakata Gintoki, prodigy child pianist. Popular for his mature and emotional interpretations despite his extremely young age, no avid classical music fan has never heard of Sakata Gintoki. It is said that even though the little boy had a teacher—renowned music theory author and lecturer Yoshida Shouyou—his teacher let the pianist interpret the piece as he liked and only guided him to smoothen his play, which means the boy came up with these interpretations himself. There is a lot of debate surrounding him as well; some regard him as using emotions to conceal his sub-par techniques.

For years after he emerged as a professional pianist, Sakata Gintoki was the talk of the town. Although he didn't hold his own recitals for some reason, he got featured in someone else's recital from time to time and videos of his live performances, equally as captivating as his recordings if not more, would always circle around the community. His albums were always eagerly awaited. This craze went on for three to four years.

The news came like a shock to the classical music world when a deadly plane crash took one of the community's most respected personalities, Yoshida Shouyou.

After the accident, pianist Sakata Gintoki disappeared. No more albums were put out, no more appearances were made. On the contrary, Yoshida Shouyou's other students—violinist Takasugi Shinsuke, flutist Kotarou Katsura, and cellist Sakamoto Tatsuma, all only took a short mourning break and returned after the grief passed. The three hasn't made quite big of a splash Gintoki did, but they are all recognized musicians.

Ten years passed. Locks of silver started to lose their place in the classical music community. The buzz died, the excitement calmed, the world forgot, and it keeps on turning.

* * *

It's just by chance, and some terribly little chance it is.

This meeting outside the university gates—it is happening by the miniscule chance that two things are coincidentally happening at the same time: one, Sakata Gintoki is late for school, which is unsurprisingly not that big of an occurrence, and two, Hijikata Toshirou is late for school, which is a huge, humongous, astronomic occurrence. Due to Edo University's strange parking lot spread—tiny lots distributed in high frequency around campus that fill up quickly—by chance it is that most lots near faculty buildings have been filled by now and Gintoki has to park in a lot right next to the university bike rental station, which Hijikata visits daily to get his preferred method of on-campus transportation, free of charge.

And by this chance is how Hijikata Toshirou meets the boy whose piano performance he is currently listening to on his phone, his choice soothing song for dreadful situations.

The tune of Chopin's Minute Waltz accompany the surreal ordeal Hijikata is experiencing, the notes peaking up and down much like the confusion stirring in Hijikata's head. His hands feel weak and it takes all of his strength to clutch his violin case so it won't fall down. Still in disbelief, he evaluates the man's features, comparing the album artwork on his phone to the figure before him. White hair. Red droopy eyes. His big hands are currently not playing the tune in his ear—right now they're locking his white moped with a second lock—but Hijikata is almost certain that those are the same hands of the little boy on this album artwork of _Sakata Gintoki: Selected Works by Mozart, Rachmaninoff and Chopin._

It's almost unbelievable because Sakata Gintoki has been missing from the music industry for almost ten years. This album is his first and last, recorded when he was just ten years old, and it's Hijikata's absolute favorite classical album. Sakata Gintoki's playing is music in its rawest form, performances led by the music and not the performer. It's what Hijikata always aspires his playing to be, and Hijikata just can't believe that his idol and inspiration is standing right in front of him.

But then again, there's a possibility that he's just someone who looks like Sakata Gintoki. It just sounds too good to be true, and if there's anything he's ever learned from drug smuggler documentaries it's to not trust anything that seems too good to be true. Besides, if that's really Sakata Gintoki studying here in Edo University's Conservatory of Music, he's sure to have made a splash somehow. Hijikata can't be the only person who admires him, seeing as his name was all over the place when he was still an active performer. And there are much better conservatories than this one anyway, there's no way someone like Sakata Gintoki would choose to go here of all places—

By the time Hijikata realizes that he could just ask the guy who he is, the white haired man is already up and gone, leaving his white moped behind.

* * *

Hijikata is out of focus for the rest of the day. After having no idea what he's listening to half of the time in classes, not talking at all at lunch, he's now causing a lot of trouble doing a poor job as a concertmaster in the S orchestra practice. He's trying really hard to keep paying attention to the conductor Kondo's commands and project them to the orchestra's members, but he zones out every few measures. Thankfully S orchestra's still sounding pretty good since they've been practicing the piece for quite a while, but no doubt Kondou notices that something else is on his mind.

After one last full run, Kondou closes his conductor's copy of Bolero. "Alright. We're doing good, I think we might even have some time to spare before the mid-term concert. Good work, everyone."

Hijikata stays quiet in his seat as everyone packs their things, knowing that Kondou's not done yet with him. Sure enough, Kondou approaches him right off the bat.

"Toshi, is anything wrong?"

Hijikata knows what's wrong, he knows very clearly what's affecting him and it's something that slightly resembles a white puff of cotton. Only, it talks and moves and there's a slight chance that it also plays the piano, which is the most troubling part.

But when he's directly thrown with that question, he doesn't know what to answer it with. Friend troubles? Fan troubles?

And anyways, will he even tell Kondo about Sakata Gintoki? Because getting this worked up just by seeing one guy is pretty embarrassing... and pathetic. Really pathetic. He didn't even talk to him, he just saw him.

Then again, if there's one person in the world he would be most honest with, it would be Kondo.

"Kondo-san, do you know anyone in the piano department?"

"Huh? Hm, I have several friends there, I guess." Kondo says. "What's up? Oh, I know. It's a girl, isn't it? A girl in the piano department! Well, I say they do rank third on the Prettiest Girls list after voice and violin. Which one do you like? The foreign transfer student Tania, or—"

"It's not a girl, Kondo-san!" Hijikata says in protest. From here, Hijikata contemplates his answers.  _It's a guy. No, that might get him the wrong idea. By chance, do you know anyone named Sakata Gintoki? No, too direct and too obvious._

Because of Hijikata's lengthy and stressful—judging from the look on his face—silence, Kondo does start to get the wrong idea, but not what Hijikata is thinking.

"Toshi," Kondo's voice pipes down to a barely audible whisper. "Is someone in the piano department bothering you?"

Taken aback by the question, Hijikata has to stop and process it again for a second time. "Eh? Bothering—well, not exactly, but—"

_Well I guess 'bothering' is a word for it... but more like 'on my mind' I guess? That sounds even more wrong._

"Have you seen a guy with white hair and red eyes around?"

"White hair and..." Kondo closes his eyes in attempt to recall. "How visual kei. He's not one of those, is he?"

"No. Okay, most likely no." Because who is Hijikata to tell that he's not a fan of that kind of stuff? With features like that, you can't exactly say. "Anyway, have you?"

"From the piano department? I don't think so. Wait—but I think I've seen something like that somewhere..."

"You have!?" Hijikata has to hold himself down from jumping out of his seat. "On campus, right? Where?"

"Hold on, let me remember. I think it was—ah!" Upon recalling, Kondo claps his hands. "During the student club showcase. I'm not quite sure what club it was, for the life of me. I do remember thinking that he looked really jarringly contrast to the others. Must be an albino or something." Kondo shrugs. "Not sure which faculty he's from though. Could be the conservatory. There's a ton of piano kids here, so I could've missed him. I'm only friends with a few of them anyways."

Seeing Hijikata's tense expression, Kondo realizes that he's not being too helpful. "Uh, you can ask the lecturers about it, maybe? Some lecturers like Kozenigata-sensei teaches Theatrics to all departments, you can try asking them if you know about the guy. He's pretty hard to miss with those features. I bet the lecturers would know about him if he's really here."

Hijikata considers the option and it actually doesn't sound half bad. Kozenigata in particular is a pretty nice and approachable lecturer, Hijikata's pretty sure he doesn't mind being asked a question or two when he's free. At least he's not asking the dean Matsudaira, since that seems like a very bad idea.

"Thanks, Kondo-san. I'll keep that in mind." He says as he put his violin back in its case. Kondo gives him a pat to the back before leaving to gather his stuff, and Hijikata exits the hall behind everyone else.

Hijikata wants really badly to arrive late for school again but he also really doesn't want to cause any more trouble, so instead he comes early the next day and waits at the university gates instead of the conservatory building just in case. However, he sees not a single curly white lock of hair. Strange, because everyone in the conservatory should have a class today. Maybe he called in sick.

The possibility of him coincidentally being sick that day gets thinner when he gets a confirmation from Kozenigata later in the day. The lecturer reports that he has never seen such a student, not in the piano department or the entire conservatory, which fuels Hijikata's confusion. He realizes that he's left with one plan left which is original plan: to ask the guy directly.

That plan is why he is again standing at the university gates in the dead morning, just as it opens, even though his first class is in the afternoon. He might look like a fool doing this, but a fool he shall be when it concerns someone who is one of his favorite musicians of all time. Thankfully he has dropped his violin off at the school-provided student instrument lockers; otherwise, he would have strained his shoulder.

After maybe an hour of waiting, he finally sees the white moped strolling through the gate. Quick as lightning, Hijikata hops on a rented university bike and chases after him.

Things get confusing real quick. The straight path from the university gate and train station ends at a fork before the vast circular university area. If the conservatory is your destination, you should turn left at this fork to head to the arts sector. Instead, the white moped turns right, heading to the social and humanities sector. The long chase ends at the last faculty right before the STEM sector: faculty of law.

Hijikata isn't so stupid as to not put the two and two together. The guy isn't a conservatory student, in fact he's studying law, and now there's an even slimmer chance that he might be the famed Sakata Gintoki. But nonetheless, his features are unusual enough to regard a closer look before the golden opportunity flies by.

The moped parks at the last open spot of the small faculty parking lot. Hijikata follows suit at the bike parking space close by. As the white-haired driver takes off his helmet and grabs his things in a practiced hurry, Hijikata holds his breath and approaches him.

"Um, excuse me."

The guy turns around and the unnatural red eyes still take him by surprise, no matter how prepared he thought he was to face him.

"Hm?"

"Y—" Hijikata’s breath hitches, but he quickly steadies himself. _No way am I going to screw this one up_. "You're Sakata Gintoki, right?"

"Huh? Yeah, why?"

He is! He is Sakata Gintoki! Right in front of him!

"Sakata Gintoki, the child pianist?"

Gintoki now looks almost as shocked as Hijikata is. At first Hijikata thinks that he is exhilarated because someone recognizes him and his work, but that thought is thrown out of the window when Gintoki’s turns his head away from Hijikata without a word to check his phone.

At a loss for words, Hijikata just stands there, unmoving, like a damn lamp post. Gintoki finally sighs and breaks the silence when he says, with a sour face, "What about that?"

"Uhh—I like listening to you. Your performance. Um, I have your album. See,” Hijikata shows the music screen of his phone. “It’s really good. I like it. Really. Especially the Mozart and Chopin.”

Gintoki’s face isn’t softening the slightest bit and it scares the hell out of Hijikata. Meanwhile, Hijikata hasn’t even regained the ability to speak properly, let alone the brain capability to think about how to fix the situation.

"If that's all you want to say then I gotta go. Class is starting."

Now the cords in Hijikata’s head are starting to click together again, and he’s starting to process the sentence Gintoki said, and his mind finally registers the dire situation.

"Wait, please!" Hijikata shouts as a desperate last resort attempt. "Why aren't you studying piano?"

Gintoki turns around and starts walking backwards and Hijikata almost convinces himself that this is a good sign, that the reason Gintoki isn’t studying piano isn’t anything heartbreaking and he could easily laugh about the whole thing. Maybe there’s another field that he got interested in and wants to study further. Maybe he thinks he’s already good enough at piano to study it again, so he’d rather study something else.

The actual answer that comes out of Gintoki’s mouth comes out more playful than Hijikata thought it would, but also more heartbreaking.

"I quit piano years ago.”

And then like a fata morgana in the middle of a summer day, the cloud enshrouds the sun and the sparkling silver gleam of Sakata Gintoki’s locks disappears out of Hijikata’s sight.

* * *

Maybe that’s how Sakata Gintoki will remain to Hijikata—an illusion.

An illusion in Hijikata’s mind is the form that Sakata Gintoki should best be preserved. In his mind, Sakata Gintoki plays piano religiously in his free time, preparing for his big comeback to the music industry, with that same raw emotion Hijikata hears almost on a daily basis. The piano take over him and those fingers move by instinct rather than a work of mind, creating the most dynamic art, the colors bursting in Hijikata’s mind—

Hijikata snaps out of his daydream. If he continues this, he will never be able to move on from Sakata Gintoki, and more importantly, he will not catch a single word of what his old as fossil professor says. Interpretation is his least favorite class, because he hates being told that his particular interpretation is false. Music should be free and liberated. There’s supposed to be no supposed way of performing a piece. Someone could play Mozart’s Sonata facile with childish innocence, or it could be played with a dynamic range of emotions.

Like Sakata Gintoki’s interpretation, for example, he—

_Good Lord._

Why is the class discussing Sonata facile today anyway? Coincidence? Or does the universe just want him to feel miserable?

“Hijikata.”

“Yes!” Loudly Hijikata yells. Did the prof ask him a question? He totally wasn’t listening.

“You must be feeling very thoughtful about today’s piece, since you’ve only been looking at your pencil.” The professor says in disdain. “Care to elaborate? What is your interpretation of Sonata facile?”

Hijikata has been listening to Gintoki’s interpretation of the piece for so long that there really is no other interpretation in his mind. “It starts out joyfully, then a hurricane came and devastation reigned, then after the hurricane passes the song tells of calm after the storm.”

The professor pauses for a thoughtful moment and gives a faint acknowledging smile. “I think I know whose interpretation you’ve been listening to. _Him_ , right?”

Hijikata doesn’t really know how to reply. Normally, he would declare the pianist’s name in adoration and awe, but now he really just doesn’t want to think about it.

“Sakata Gintoki. He was a game changer of his time, sure.” The professor sits back down and clicks his laptop alive. “He provided some interesting interpretations at a very young age. But interesting doesn’t mean good. I’ve already prepared this for you to listen at the end of the class, but since we’re talking about Sakata Gintoki anyway, I will show you now.”

 _We have to_ listen _to him?_

The first note, unlike a typical performance of the piece, starts out not calm but passionate. From the first note, Sakata Gintoki attacks the listeners with all of his emotions, and it doesn’t stop until the very end. Some of the students seem taken aback with how it begins, but after a while the shock dissipates and they are forced back on track by Gintoki’s dynamic, commanding piano play. The middle part begins with an even louder chord, resembling a hurricane, and the tempo increases dramatically. The part is filled with surprises, sometimes it begins to fade away only to return with a jolt. Amidst the turbulence, a small fragment of peace lets itself known and introduces itself gently in a jarringly contrasting tempo. The fragment gradually blossoms with little bursts of tempo and force, at the end of the piece, reaches full bloom in a grand fortissimo finish.

By the end of the piece, a majority of the class is thoroughly confused, some has stopped listening since the roller coaster of the hurricane, few are amused, and Hijikata is close to crying.

_Stop, don’t lose it, Hijikata. You’ve listened to the track countless times and it’s a bit late to get emotional._

“I’m seeing different reactions here.” The teacher says with an amused smirk. “Interesting. Capture what you feel right now in an essay and email it to me by finals. No essay, no entry.”

* * *

Hijikata, as it turns out, already has a hidden stash of these essays about Sakata Gintoki’s interpretations, so he’s fine.  Having some free time and a mind that just doesn’t shut up, Hijikata does the only thing that calms him: play some sick music.

He calls up his partner for his upcoming exams recital, a piano student by the name of Itou. Itou has been his partner ever since he enrolled here. He played for the S orchestra once, and since he is the only piano student Hijikata knows, he’s been asking him to accompany him for recitals.

Itou’s supposed to rent the studio space for him but somehow his name is not on the list yet, so instead Hijikata does it. He sends Itou a text about this afterwards. Itou replies that he’s currently caught up in something and tells Hijikata to start without him.

So Hijikata does, opening up his scribble-full sheets of Elgar’s Violin Sonata in E minor. His part isn’t actually that difficult and he’s got pretty much all of it down already, so he sets his music stand to the side, only to occasionally check if his dynamics are correct. Being a sonata, the piece is almost like a duet that requires much coordination between violinist and pianist—make sure they’re always on the same page. This is the obligatory piece and the examiners are going to hear the same thing they’ve heard over and over again; if Hijikata doesn’t play around with interpretation and dynamics.  So far, he along with Itou have only worked on joining their sounds and actually finishing the piece, following the sheets to the T. Only the foundation, lots more to do.

Thirty minutes pass. Hijikata is getting bored of repeating the same thing over and over. He calls Itou, but the pianist doesn’t pick up. Being this hard to contact is very not characteristic of Itou. Hijikata is starting to get irritated; the recital is only two weeks away and their performance is still too raw to be served. Maybe something went terribly wrong, the optimistic Hijikata says, so he pulls out some other sheets and practices them to kill time.

An hour later, an angry Hijikata puts away his goddamn violin. Losing his manners and sense, he calls Itou over and over and over again, and again, and again and again and again and again.

On the thirteenth attempt, Itou finally picks up.

“Hello?”

_Hello, my ass! Where the fuck are you!?_

“Itou, it’s Hijikata. Will you make it to the rehearsal today?”

“Oh dear. Did I forget to tell you?” so Itou says, but his voice is calm. “I cannot make it to the recital. There’s a thing right on there, you see. A thing I have to attend. You’ll have to find someone else.”

All manners fly past by Hijikata and he screams into his phone. “Wait—Itou, what the fu—“

His shout is answered with beeps.

Hijikata wants to smash his fucking phone, no wait it’s kinda pricey, okay maybe his violin wait no don’t, the piano you can’t lift the fucking thing god _dammit Itou what even the fuck are you saying you little shit!_

The violinist’s knees wobble and he sinks to the floor of the studio, hopeless, the test is two weeks away, and a tear is forming along his waterline and he lets it fall.


End file.
